Gainward Launches Cool and Quiet GeForce GTX 680 Phantom

We're starting to see some unique twists on Nvidia's recently launched GeForce GTX 680 graphics card, including a model from Gainward that's been outfitted with the company's new Phantom II cooler. According to Gainward, the new and improved Phantom II cooler offers better thermal performance, runs quieter, and is more structurally sound than the previous generation Phantom.

The Phantom II consists of two "Great" (GR8) 8cm PWM fans nestled underneath a giant heastink with modified fins and five "Grand Prix" heatpipes. What this all adds up to is a cooling solution that's 7.8 dB quieter and 60 percent cooler in 2D and idle mode, and 11.5 dB quieter and 6C cooler when processing a heavy 3D load, Gainward claims.

With all that additional cooling and noise control, Gainward opted to overclock the GPU to 1,150MHz and the 2GB of GDDR5 memory to 3,150MHz (6,300MHz effective). The card also boasts "QuattroPorts," Gainward's fancy way of saying it has a DisplayPort, two dual-link DVI ports, and an HDMI port.

No word on when the Phantom II equipped GTX 680 will be available or for how much.